


Over you

by mintleaftea



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Almost smut, Entirely too much dialogue, Future Fic, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Percy has feelings and Nico is mad, Prompt Fic, hot makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-02-07 23:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1918764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mintleaftea/pseuds/mintleaftea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Really, Percy didn't know what he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

If you asked Percy why he had been in that particular club at that particular time, he really couldn’t have given you an answer that sounded good.

He could have said he was hunting empousa, which wasn’t necessarily a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole truth. To be honest, Percy didn’t know why he had chosen that particular club at that particular time to start his search, because it definitely wasn’t because he had seen a familiar mop of untidy dark hair and what looked suspiciously like a stygian iron sword slip passed the bouncer. It’s not like he was hoping to bump into Nico di Angelo, the wayward son of Hades who had hardly been seen by anyone other than his sister, Hazel, since after they had defeated Gaea. It’d be nice, of course, but…no, he definitely wasn’t following Nico.

Which is why it was pure coincidence that Percy saw Nico and another boy leaning against the bar and…smiling at each other.(Which was totally a legitimate reason to be suspicious, by that way, because Nico di Angelo didn’t just smile like that, so casually at a stranger.) Nico continued to smile as the other boy ghosted a hand over Nico’s own, lingering for longer than Percy thought was “accidental.” He smiled when he wrapped his own fingers through the strange boys and led him by the hand to dance floor, the sweaty teens parting to let them through as if they weren’t really there. 

At this point, of course, Percy was actually following Nico, but only because he was worried. Yeah, worried. Just pure, older-brotherly worry about Nico and-

And Nico and the strange boy were, yeah, wow, yeah they were definitely kissing. Full on lip on lip action was happening and Percy found himself gripping at Riptide as the boys hips moved against Nico’s, who returned the gesture in full. Percy felt his heart pounding, in what he decided was probably more brotherly-concern, as he approached the pair cautiously. He was hunting empousa, after all, and who said they couldn’t take the form of boys to seduce other boys who- who must like boys. Boys who liked kissing other boys and— 

Oh gods, Percy was so stupid. “Nico-“

Nico pulled away from his kiss in reaction to his name, “Wh-Percy? PERCY STOP-“

But Percy was already swinging Riptide cutting through the stange-kissing-Nico boy and-

and the other boy was gone. Not a pile of ashes on the floor gone, but just..gone- vanished into thin air and leaving Percy with a very angry looking son of Hades.

"Put it away." Nico hissed, and Percy blinked at him, "Your sword. Put it away and come with me before people start asking questions." Nico grabbed his ar and pulled him away, in a much less gentle way then the way he had pulled the other boy.

"Nico, I thought-"

"What are you doing here?" Nico scowled.

"I was- was hunting for empousa and-"

"Empousa? Here?" Nico gestured to the crowd around them which was very determinedly lacking in any vampire-cheerleader types. "It’s a GAY CLUB, Percy. There aren’t any-"

"I thought that maybe- I thought you were-"

"Gods, Percy you’re so stupid! Why do you always have to ruin things for me?" 

"I thought you were being attacked, I wasn’t just going to stand there while you…while you kissed.”

Nico stared at him for what seemed like years in incredulous silence, before smashing his palms against his eyes in frustration. “I can’t believe this.” Nico’s voice was bitter and angry and tired, “I can’t BELIEVE you, Percy Jackson. You can’t- you can’t just- I haven’t even seen you in more than a year, Percy.”

"I KNOW! I know that, Nico! Where have you been? We’ve missed you, I’ve missed you, and then here you are and I just-“

"No. No, Percy, you’re not allowed to miss me, ok? I got…just. Just stop. I had been tracking that soul for WEEKS Percy and you had to ruin it because? Because why? Because you ‘missed me’? Because you thought I couldn’t handle myself? Were you jealous?”

"No. I mean." Percy froze. Was he? Seeing Nico, grown up Nico who he hadn’t seen in years but still considered him like a responsibility, who still felt…something towards the boy. But it wasn’t- "I didn’t know you were…you know…"

"Oh, you’re kidding me." Nico scoffed, "Did you get that from a movie? That I’m what Percy, that I’m gay? Because that’s sort of old news, ask anyone. Didn’t Jason fill you in? Or Reyna or Annabeth? I’ve always told you I didn’t belong. Well, you’re too late, Jackson. I’ve already had that personal break through, so you can leave, please."

 

Percy frowned before looking back up at Nico, who had gone from incredulous to the look of bitter sadness that Percy remembered him wearing so often, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-to interfere with your…your boyfriend? I just thought…I mean…I’m sorry.”

Nico looked like he was trying to decide whether to laugh or cry, “He wasn’t my boyfriend. He was a soul, too long for this Earth. I was trying to bring him back to the underworld before you…oh shit, you know, I never thought I’d come out to you like this.”

"Were you planning on telling me at all?"

"No. Not really." Nico shrugged and Percy couldn’t help but feel a twinge of hurt, "It was too…too personal. With you. For a long time. And I was been, I AM busy, so-"  
"What do you mean too personal, Nico?" Percy narrowed his eyes, but Nico didn’t answer, just stared at the floor and fiddled with his ring (an old habit that Percy recognized). It clicked, "Oh."

"Yeah." Nico wasn’t looking at him. 

"Oh, Nico. Shit. Shit. I’m…gods, I’m REALLY stupid. I thought…Jason or- oh god. Nico, I-"

"Just. Just shut up Percy. I’m over it, ok? I got over it a long, long time ago, so-" 

Percy felt his lips against Nico’s before he realized what he was doing. Oh no, oh shit, he shouldn’t have- oh. Nico was kissing him back, and Percy couldn’t suppress the shiver that was running down his spine. Nico was all heat and tongue and the mad fierceness he always had and it made Percy hungry for more, for Nico, for-

"There." Nico pulled away far too soon for Percy’s liking and he made a sound of loss. "Is that what you wanted? Well you got it, Percy, ok? So now you’ve settled your impulse, and fulfilled- what? A day dream? A pity service? Because I didn’t need that, not from you, not for a while. So please leave now, ok?"  
"Nico-"

"I said goodybe, Percy." 

 

And just like that Nico had vanished into a spot of shadow, leaving Percy’s lips tingling and stomach dropping. 

Percy really couldn’t give any good answer.


	2. Chapter 2

If you asked Percy why he had hung around in the hot, swampy city for almost three days after his run in with Nico, he couldn't have given you an answer that sounded good.  To say that he didn't want to go home quite yet was true, but not everything.  To say that he was trying to sort the mess he'd made of himself recently was true, too.  To say that he hadn't stopped thinking about Nico di Angelo in a way that he never really imagined he would be thinking about Nico di Angelo, well, that was embarrassing but true.  The real reason would be that he hadn't realized how much he _cared_ until he saw Nico dancing with a dead boy.   

Percy's relationship with Nico had never been the best.  It had started off with the hero worship of an annoying little boy who was obsessed with card games and got substantially worse. Nico had let his grief turn into anger and directed that anger towards Percy and the world.  He'd let his anger turn into bitterness and turned that on himself.  Then he'd fallen into Tartarus and didn't really seem to feel much of anything, wearing the same haunted exhaustion that Percy recognized from his own reflection.  It had gotten a little better, after Gaea, Percy thought. Just a little, but it was something.  

And Nico had told Percy he "wasn't his type" and then they hadn't spoken more than two sentences to each other for the past year.  Percy was lucky if he saw Nico at camp, and luckier still if he got a chance to talk to him.  

It had bothered him a lot, but he hadn't particularly dwelled on it.  He realized now that Nico's cold shoulder had been rubbing a sore spot on him and that seeing Nico a few days ago had made that spot burning and painful in the way that made his stomach hurt.  

Oh, and, you know, the fact that he maybe, totally, kept dreaming about kissing Nico. Like, a lot. Like. A worrying amount.  And he wasn't really sure what that meant, but he knew he had to do something about it before Nico vanished again and left a Hades sized hole in his life.  

Which is why, if you asked Percy what he was doing cornering Nico outside of a dingy diner at 2 AM, he wouldn't have a good answer but would assure that it was a lot more innocent than the situation sounded. 

Well, that was the intention anyways.  

"What do you want?" Nico said crossing his arms and glaring in a way that Percy was uncomfortably familiar with, "Why are you still following?" 

"I wanted...to talk to you." Yeah, that sounded reasonable. 

"No." Nico turned to leave and Percy cursed the gods with giving the boy with the worst avoidance tendencies on the planet the ability to fucking teleport.  

"No, wait!" Percy moved forward and Nico stilled even if he didn't turn around. 

"What?" 

"Why won't you talk to me?" 

"Because I don't want to." Nico said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it sort of was.  

"Well, I want to talk to you." 

"Of course you do," Nico sighed and turned around, "You just can't help yourself can you?" 

"What do you mean," Percy said and felt like he should be offended. 

"What is this for you? A loose end? A guilt complex?" 

"No, it's...I just want to talk. Nico, please, I miss you." 

"Sure." 

"I do, Nico! We all do, everyone does.  But I miss you and I...I just..." Percy trailed off and tried to remember all the words he'd ever learned but none of them seemed right.  What did he want? What did he need.  He wanted to tell Nico that he missed him like a starving man missed food or that he craved a relationship of some kind with Nico and it felt like a disgusting failure of a thing.  He wanted to tell Nico that since he'd seen him three days ago he hadn't thought of anything else. He wanted to say that Nico was important and he need to know that and Percy needed to prove that to him. He needed to say the words that had been hiding behind the giant heap of feelings and fuzzy thoughts he'd accumulated the past year. He wanted to say- 

"I love you." 

The mood changed instantly, a sudden chill taking Percy in a death grip.  In that moment, Nico looked so incredibly _underworld_ that is seemed impossible that Hades would ever have let him out.  His eyes were as empty and cold as stygian and Percy was strikingly aware of how all the shadows seemed to grow perceivably darker.  

"How dare you." Nico hissed, and it wasn't a question but an accusation, "How dare you say that to me." 

"Nico, I-" 

"No. No you do not anything, Percy Jackson. You do not _love me,"_ the word love slid out of his mouth like rancid water, "You have never loved me and your bold and impulsive proclamations aren't nearly as endearing as they were when you were sixteen.  Whatever revelation about your sexuality or guilt driven lust you're going through right now I don't want any part in it.  I already went through all that on my own, and I'm not going to be your gay experience just so you can feel better about yourself." 

Percy felt his own anger flare. Why did Nico always have to be so difficult? It's not like he wasn't trying. Percy wasn't the one who avoided having any sort of real conversation for _five years._ PERCY wasn't the one who kept running away and being defensive whenever someone tried to open up. It wasn't PERCY who hadn't been trying to build a friendship again.  "That's NOT what this is." 

Nico scoffed, "Then what is it?"  

And that was the problem, wasn't it? Percy didn't know what this was. He didn't know what the feeling that was bubbling and boiling in his chest meant, or what fuzzy indistinct dreams of Nico's lips implied, or why he knew with certainty that if he let Nico walk away from him again it was going to be over and that thought was almost unbearable. And Nico was wrong, Percy DID love him, in some way, by some meaning of that word - because after everything there was no way Percy didn't love Nico.  It was different from how he loved Annabeth, or how he loved Frank and Hazel and Piper and Leo, or how he loved Grover, but it was love. Somehow. In someway. And he'd make Nico see that.  

"Well?" Nico raised an eyebrow scathingly, and scoffed at Percy's pensive silence, "Yeah I thought so.  I'm leaving." 

"No." 

"Excuse me?" 

"I said no." Percy set his expression, "You're not leaving. Not without at least talking to me.  You aren't going to just brush me off again and run away from this." 

"I am NOT running-" 

"Yes, you are," Percy's temper flared again and he returned Nico's anger in turn, "You're running away from me like you always do! And I always find you anyways, so obviously it's not working.  Why won't you just talk to me?" 

Nico huffed, "We ARE talking." 

"No, gods, Nico- you know what I mean.  I haven't even heard from you in over a year." 

Nico shrugged, "You've been busy."  Percy didn't miss the slight emphasis on _you,_ as if it had been Percy's fault that they hadn't seen each other in months. Like Percy had been the one who always was gone from camp when Percy visited, or ignored Percy's waves and attempts at friendship.  

"Everyone's busy." 

Nico shrugged again, "I've been busy, then. So what? Why are you doing this?"  

Percy noticed for the first time that behind the anger, Nico's voice was strained with something else.  Just like before, like Nico was fighting with himself over something and for some reason, the fact that Nico was holding back just annoyed him more.  

"Why are you?" 

"What?" Nico's voice had hardened back into scathing, but Percy didn't flinch. 

"Why are you here? Why have you been avoiding everyone? Why-" Percy hesitated for only a moment, "Why did you let me kiss you?" 

Nico's cheeks flushed although it was hard to tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. "I didn't let you do anything, you just did." 

"But you didn't...like, you let me continue to kiss you though. Right?" Percy felt a sudden anxiety build in his chest. Had he read that wrong? Had he ignored Nico trying to push him away or- oh gods. He was the worst and Nico was right after all.  

"I just...well, obviously you had a point to make," Nico turned away, "So I let you make it, although I'm not sure what that point was.  I don't know why you followed me or whatever you were doing but I don't need you to pity me." 

"Good," Percy pursed his lips, "Because I don't.  I just hate...this," He gestured between the two of them, "Whatever this is.  You avoiding me and us fighting and not talking for a year. I want to be friends." 

"Yeah, sure." 

"No, really. Why is that so hard to believe?" 

"You ignored me for four years and now, suddenly, you want to be bosom buddies? Yeah, right."  

"I didn't-" Oh, well, ok maybe Nico had a point, but it's not like Percy had been a jerk on purpose.  And in his defense, Nico was hard to like when he was younger. That didn't seem like the best conclusion to make right now though, so he said "Well, I didn't mean to. And I tried, Nico, but you kept pushing me away." 

"Yeah, well," Nico crossed his arms in a way that seemed more protective than angry, "Maybe you should've taken the hint. Will you leave me alone now?" 

"No." Percy meant it too.  

"Gods, your so stubborn, why-" 

"You're one to talk about being stubborn. Just talk to me and-" 

"OK fine," Nico worried his lip and let himself look uncertain for a fraction of a moment before steeling himself into something angry and sure of himself, "Fine. Tell me what you want. And don't say to talk, because you're obviously gunning for something else and I have things to do." 

"I, uh," Percy tried to think of something to say.  

"Do you want to kiss me again? Are you not over your little gay panic yet?" 

Percy realized that, yeah, actually that is what he wanted. He wouldn't describe it as a gay panic but he'd been reliving the kiss with Nico since it happened and he found himself wanting more of that...whatever he had felt then.  And maybe, then, after they got that out of the way things would make more sense.  

Maybe. 

Hopefully. 

It was at least worth a shot, at any rate. 

"Yes." Percy nodded, "Well, not the-the other part but. I do want to kiss again." 

"Sure," Nico still sounded angry, but he moved towards Percy anyways, "Fine then." 

 _Right,_ Percy thought as he tried to remember how to breath as Nico approached him, a look of fierce determination burning in his eyes, _No problem. I'm a great kisser. Just like kissing Annabeth._  

The problem was that Nico distinctly did not kiss like Annabeth. 

Nico kissed a lot like how he fought- constantly pushing his luck and surging forward without any heed of what was behind him. He went harder and harder until he could find someone strong enough to run a sword through him before they tasted his stygian iron.  There was a lot of heat and barely concealed anger, and all the while he seemed to buzz with excited energy that was tearing at him from the inside and escaping through his lips. 

It was sort of the sexiest thing ever, which he wasn't expecting.  

 _OK,_ Percy thought, _change of tactics._ Nico wasn't the only one trained in adaptability in combat.  Percy changed his position so his hands were firmly settled on Nico's hips, a move that he noted with some satisfaction, made Nico hesitate.  Clearly he still thought Percy was only playing some sort of game, or was going to chicken out and run and leave Nico behind and pretend like this whole embarrassing ordeal never happened. Well, Nico was wrong and he wasn't going to avoid this issue unlike _some people._  

Percy didn't intend to give Nico much time to refocus, instead pulling Nico's hips so they were flush against each other.  He heard Nico inhale sharply and took that as a good sign.  OK, so he had to treat this like a fight - which was a weird way to go about kissing someone but not necessarily unpleasant. Sure, he didn't really have much experience, but he had good instincts. He only hoped they applied to this sort of situation as well.  His instincts told him to bite Nico's lip and run a hand through his hair.   

Nico pulled back for a moment and Percy thought he'd made a mistake. Then, Nico surged forward and back onto Percy's lips with a mad determination that was more reassurance than anything else could have been.  Nico's hands held onto Percy's shoulder with bruising strength as he pressed their bodies together.  Clearly Nico didn't like wasting time, which was fine in Percy's opinion.  Nico's lips pressed against Percy's to move them apart, and they shared a single breath for an instant before Percy understood the message and opened his mouth on Nico's.  He tried to remember what the role of tongues were in making out because his mind had gone into a sort of hazy buzz and he couldn't quite focus with Nico's hands now tangling in his hair and his hips rubbing against Percy's jeans in a way that would have gotten him kicked off the Argo by Coach Hedge a couple of years ago.   

"Nico," Percy whispered as they broke apart when they remembered that breathing was a thing.  

"Shut up," Nico responded and didn't leave Percy a chance to respond before Nico's lips were on his collar and his teeth were scraping against skin.  

Oh.  

Nico's hands started moving down Percy's body, down his back and across his sides and resting on his hips, slender fingers running just under his waist band.  

"Nico, wait, are you-" 

"Why, this too much for you?" He cocked an eyebrow and Percy felt his blood rush down and leave him dizzy.  Nico, with mussed hair and bruised lips and sharp eyes looking up at him with his hands dangerously close to his crotch was not something Percy had been prepared for.  

"I," This was a bad idea, "Keep going. I want this." 

"Sure," Nico whispered against his neck, "We'll see if you still want to after we're done." 

Percy couldn't tell you what that meant, but Nico's hand was rubbing over his groin and he didn't particularly care.  

"This isn't what I-" Percy gasped and huffed. 

"Yeah, the whole gay thing is pretty weird, huh?" Nico's voice was bitter and hateful and kind of a mood killer even with his hand fondling Percy. "We can stop." 

"No," Percy shook his head, "That isn't what I was going to say. I just didn't...I wasn't..." 

"Whatever," Nico moved back so his mouth was hovering over Percy's.  He thought they were going to kiss again.  Nico's eyes were far away and Percy wished he could know what he was thinking about.  He looked like he was deciding something.  

"Nico," He could feel Nico's breath and his own ghost across their cheeks.  The change in mood was palpable and uncomfortable and Nico seemed to realize where they were and pushed himself away. Like he just realized they had been in a heavy makeout session.  Percy tried to refocus past the distraction in his pants and was entirely too confused to catch up with Nico's sudden shift.  

"Sorry." Nico backed away and turned his back and Percy felt his blood go cold. _Shit._  

"Nico, wait, don't-" And he was gone.  

Again. 

And there still wasn't any good answer. 


End file.
